Little Blue Heron

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Yesterday morning Bill Dix emailed me about someone posting a sighting of this Little Blue Heron in a nearby wildlife preserve. Thanks Bill. I packed up my gear, went to the location and within seconds sighted him about halfway up a maple tree on an exposed branch. This tree is on a point of the edge of a forest which is next to a large expanse of fields know as the Pole Farm. Just beneath this maple are two shallow ponds with several types of reeds growing on their edges. I took several images of him in the tree as I maneuvered through the marsh to find a good vantage point if he was to fly down to one of the ponds. He did, and had a bead on a small fish. The grasses were so tall it was impossible to get a very clear image as he downed the fish. I kept watching waiting for him to takeoff. This is one of several images as he did. A lifer for me. C&C welcome.

D4S, Nikon 500mm + 1.4 TC, 1/2500s, f 6.3, ISO 2000, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley Gimbal head.


Geoffrey

[gail bisson]

Congrats on your lifer Geoffrey!
Nice and sharp and nice wing position.
I would crop this a bit more and take some off the bottom and left.
I like the BG but the green is a bit powerful so I think cropping this a bit would reduce the impact of the green and let the little blue shine through,
Gail

[William Dickson]

Well done on getting this Geoffrey and well done to Bill. I bet it was exciting, watching the bird . I like the flight pose and the trailing legs, agree with Gail about the BG.

Will

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nicely done, Geoffrey. Congratulations on your lifer. Thank you for sharing.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Geoffrey,
Congrats on the lifer! Nice in flight pose - well captured. Would consider cropping a little tighter on left and bottom as Gail mentioned.
Allen

[John Robinson]

I agree about the cropping. Nice backdrop with enough in it to give vegetation effect.
Smart looking bird.
John

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes to cropping, or if you want to keep the bird the same size in the frame I'd move him back a tad. Far wing looks great, bummer the near one was not raise higher. I like the BG, quite different for this species! Congrats on a good image of the rare bird (for your area).

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Congrats on your lifer Geoffrey!
Nice and sharp and nice wing position.
I would crop this a bit more and take some off the bottom and left.
I like the BG but the green is a bit powerful so I think cropping this a bit would reduce the impact of the green and let the little blue shine through,
Gail

Thanks Gail. I agree. After posting this I thought it either needed to be cropped a bit more and or bring the BG down a few points. Cropping seems a popular concurrence for this image. I'll get to it soon.

Geoffrey

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Yes to cropping, or if you want to keep the bird the same size in the frame I'd move him back a tad. Far wing looks great, bummer the near one was not raise higher. I like the BG, quite different for this species! Congrats on a good image of the rare bird (for your area).

Thanks Daniel. Good suggesting a move back. Funny you mentioning bummer the front wing was not in a higher position, because I do have a few frames with both wings up (more traditional), but I liked this one equally as much. I was thinking of posting one of them soon.

Geoffrey

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. After cropping more, taking some of the bottom and left as Gail originally suggested, I think this solved the bright green issue. Here's the repost.

Geoffrey

[gail bisson]

This is a really nice improvement. Ticks all the boxes for me!

[Bill Dix]

Nice work, Geoffrey. Glad you were able to find him. Lovely background -- repost really makes a difference -- and nice sharp flight pose. I look forward to seeing a frame with both wings up.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Thanks Bill.

Geoffrey

[Daniel Cadieux]

Composition is much better now, good work.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Thanks Daniel, and Gail.


Geoffrey